The attempts by the administration led by Donald Trump to revive the fossil fuel sector have not been enough to curb the momentum of renewable energy. Estimates for 2026, contained in a report by Standard & Poor's, indicate that the installed capacity of solar and wind power is expected to increase by 45 gigawatts, reaching a record level for the United States.

Numerous companies have accelerated their solar and wind programmes

As soon as he returned to the White House – as the Financial Times recalls – Trump had not only adopted measures to support coal, oil and gas, but had also eliminated the significant renewable energy subsidies introduced by his predecessor, Joe Biden. Dozens of projects were consequently cancelled, and in the legislation dubbed the "One big beautiful bill Act" of 4 July 2025, a maximum time limit of twelve months was granted to still benefit from the tax credits awarded to solar and wind energy.

What actually happened, however, was the opposite effect: "Paradoxically, that law gave the renewables sector a tremendous boost," observed Sabah Bayatli, owner of Oci Energy, a solar energy development company based in San Antonio, Texas, in an article published by S&P Global. Numerous companies have in fact accelerated their programmes: Oci Energy itself launched as many as nine projects in the first half alone of 2026.

The role of data centres in the growth of energy consumption in the United States

Furthermore, according to an analyst interviewed by the Financial Times, the Washington administration itself is reportedly coming to realise that renewables are indispensable for meeting growing energy demand. The latter is driven above all by the construction of data centres linked to artificial intelligence: extremely energy-hungry infrastructures which, on their own, according to a study by the University of Berkeley, could account for up to 12 per cent of total American consumption by 2028.

"Some mega data centre projects in the United States will each absorb 10 gigawatt-hours. That means powering them will require the entire electricity output of seven EPR nuclear reactors," Jean-Marc Jancovici, engineer and founder of the think tank The Shift Project, recently emphasised.

93 per cent of new installed capacity in 2026 comes from renewables

Renewables are also necessary for this very reason. As much as 93 per cent of the new installed capacity for energy production in the United States this year will be represented by clean energy (including storage via batteries, as indicated by a report from the International Energy Agency). Moreover, installing a solar farm is an infinitely faster operation than drilling for oil or building a new gas plant.

Not to mention that, according to the American consultancy firm Lazard, the average cost of a solar plant in the United States today ranges, depending on a number of factors, between 40 and 98 dollars per megawatt-hour, and that of onshore wind between 37 and 99 dollars. A gas plant, by contrast, requires between 51 and 129 dollars. The ecological transition, in short, is more beneficial for the environment and climate, faster, and also more economically sound — even in the United States.